Employment Bill Clarifies Modern Grey Areas
BusinessNZ supports the introduction of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill, saying the changes will have a positive impact across New Zealand's economy.
Director of Advocacy Catherine Beard says the Bill should provide more certainty, particularly around contract-based work.
"In clarifying the employee-contractor distinction through the previously announced gateway test, the Amendment Bill will simplify chosen working arrangements for all parties involved.
"The personal grievance process is being simplified, preventing the likelihood of rewarding poor employee behaviour. A system that increasingly fines employers for trying to deal with poor performance or serious misconduct including theft, fraud and even violence, is one that clearly needs fixing.
"It also makes sense to tidy up the 30-day rule introduced under the previous Government, which saw new employees automatically classed as union members if there is a collective agreement, for the first 30 days - whether they wanted to or not.
"In reality, the 30-day rule is a compliance headache for employers and employees alike, and is something that BusinessNZ has argued should be removed.
"The issues being addressed in this Amendment Bill have been flagged as a drag on productivity and flexibility by businesses. The BusinessNZ Network has been advocating for these changes for some time, and it's encouraging to see that Minister van Velden is listening to business owners' concerns during what remains a difficult time to be operating.
"BusinessNZ looks forward to working further with the Minister on workplace issues to improve our economy and make New Zealand an even better place to be."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
Luxon's ACT Party Government Dragging NZ Workers Back In Time
Today's introduction of the Employment Relations Amendment Bill to Parliament shows that the ACT Party - a fringe libertarian party with the support of fewer than one in ten New Zealanders - is now the leading force in Christopher Luxon's "hands-off" Government and has been given a green light to drag Aotearoa backwards with a disastrous suite of anti-worker 'reforms'. "It's clear that Brooke van Velden and the ACT Party are now redefining the future of workers in New Zealand with the blessing of a negligent Prime Minister," said Dennis Maga, Workers First Union General Secretary. "These are the most significant anti-worker law changes that this country has seen in decades, and they will make life worse for every working person in the country to the benefit of exploitative employers." "This Bill 'amends' employment relations in our country in the same way that a large earthquake 'amends' a city." Mr Maga said proposed law changes intended to distinguish an 'employee' from a 'contractor' are "desperately pre-emptive" and aim to precede an appeal being heard next month by the Supreme Court of New Zealand on a 2022 Employment Court verdict that four Uber drivers were employees and not contractors. "This Government has no regard for evidence, no time for judicial process, and is in the pocket of multinational scam artists like Uber who prey on contractor misclassification to skirt around weak legislation," said Mr Maga. "Instead of strengthening our protection against exploitation, Brooke van Velden is laying out the red carpet for employers like Uber to come into New Zealand and take advantage of cheap labour with next to no rights and no ability to challenge employment status." Mr Maga said that a proposed change to remove the "30-day rule", which protects a new employee's rights by signing them up to a collective agreement automatically, was part of a deliberate effort to undermine unions and ensure "atomisation" in the workplace that would erode workers' collective strength and safety. "The ACT Party believes workers are simply cheap labour on a balance sheet, and we should be docile, productive and silent on the collective challenges we face at work like poor safety standards, exploitation and low pay," said Mr Maga. Mr Maga said that these law changes would break an "industrial peace" in Aotearoa that has been enjoyed for some time. "All options are on the table, and unions will be fighting back because we care about the future of our workplaces and we believe in self-determination and negotiation, not blind servitude to employers," said Mr Maga. "This one-term Government has been an absolute disaster already, but every week, they manage to surprise us by sinking even lower."
1News
2 hours ago
- 1News
'Eyesore' Wellington flats to lose heritage status
The protected heritage status of the derelict Gordon Wilson Flats in Wellington will be scrapped through an amendment to the Resource Management Act (RMA) in the coming weeks. The Gordon Wilson Flats were used as social housing until 2012, when a engineer's report deemed them unsafe. They have been left vacant since. However as they are listed as heritage protected in the Wellington City District Plan, it became nearly impossible for anyone to get a resource consent to demolish them or alter them. RMA Reform and Housing Minister Chris Bishop said the building has become "more dangerous and more of an eyesore every year" that it has sat empty. ADVERTISEMENT "There has been attempt after attempt to deal with the Gordon Wilson Flats since 2012, all of which have failed. The Flats sit as an ugly scar on the Wellington skyline, emblematic of a failed planning system that prioritises preservation of heritage, no matter the economic cost." The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including disposable vape ban, Auckland Airport meth find, and why Europe hates tourists right now. (Source: 1News) He said the Government had agreed to enable the demolition of the flats by amending the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill. "The amendment will remove the Flats' protected heritage status and will make its demolition a permitted activity under the RMA. This means the building can finally be demolished, without a resource consent. "The Wellington City Council wants the Gordon Wilson flats demolished, the University (the current owner) wants them demolished, and the people of Wellington want them demolished too," Bishop said. RMA Reform Minister Chris Bishop announced the changes at today's Post-Cabinet press conference. (Source: 1News) "The amendments will not apply to any other heritage-protected buildings around the country. The Gordon Wilson Flats have been singled out because the building is owned by a public institution – Victoria University – and because that owner, the council and the community all want it gone. ADVERTISEMENT "I know many Wellingtonians will be relieved to know the Gordon Wilson Flats' days of heritage protection are numbered, and that it is unlikely to mar our beautiful city's skyline for too much longer," Bishop said. The Amendment Paper to the Resource Management (Consenting and Other System Changes) Amendment Bill will be introduced during the Bill's Committee of the Whole House stage, between its second and third readings. The Bill is expected to pass into law in the middle of 2025. "The Bill also contains wider amendments to allow councils to de-list heritage buildings in their district plans faster and more easily. The wider issue of heritage protection is also being actively considered as part of the government's replacement legislation for the Resource Management Act, expected to be introduced later in the year." Victoria University would still need demolition consent to start knocking them down.
Scoop
4 hours ago
- Scoop
Radical Employment Bill Threatens Every NZ Worker
The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Te Kauae Kaimahi is urging all political parties to vote against Brooke van Velden's new Employment Relations Amendment Bill, as it will severely undermine workers' rights. 'This new Bill will legislate many of the attacks on workers' rights signalled by Brooke van Velden, fundamentally undermining the rights of working people in New Zealand's employment relations system,' said NZCTU President Richard Wagstaff. 'Following instruction from Uber's corporate lobbyists, the Minister is wanting to prevent some of the most vulnerable and casualised workers who have been misclassified as contractors from being able to access their legal rights by taking cases to court. Government should not be blocking workers from court because corporates may not like the outcome. 'The personal grievance changes are also trying to tie the courts hands and prevent them from establishing justice for workers. They entrench power imbalances and leave workers facing unjustified dismissal with no statutory protection. 'These changes threaten every single worker in Aotearoa. The right to seek remedies for unjustifiable and unlawful dismissal is a basic employment right and should not be diluted. 'This Bill also legislates to remove the 30-day rule, which is another attempt undermine unions and protections that unions bring their members. Currently workers in a new role have the protection of any collective agreement in place for 30 days. Removing the rule will encourage employers to exploit workers when they are at their most vulnerable, and to lead a race to the bottom for wages and conditions. 'The Bill heightens worker vulnerability to unjustifiable dismissal, shields employers from the consequences of mistreating workers, and drives people into insecure work. This is in the context of government policy that has caused largescale unemployment. 'Parties across Parliament should vote down this radically unjust law and instead support working people and their families,' said Wagstaff.
